Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Sunday during an interview with the Washington Blade praised the many legislative milestones that marked this year’s legislative session.

Most of the lawmaker’s bills addressed the opioid crisis, mental health, gun violence and LGBTQ issues. Vogel noted he opted to work to safeguard people’s fundamental rights.

“We have been leading the way on this [LGBTQ issues.] This legislative session, we passed a bill to expand access to gender-affirming care for Medicaid recipients, making it so that if you are poor and on Medicaid, you have access to the same gender affirming care as if you are wealthy, and on private insurance,” he told the Blade before he attended the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund’s National Champagne Brunch that took place at the JW Marriott Hotel in D.C.

Maryland has also been at the forefront of abortion rights by driving the efforts to enshrine the right into the state’s constitution. The General Assembly also passed a measure to end the state’s statute of limitations for when a civil suit can be filed against public or private institutions when related to child sexual abuse. 

Vogel described Democratic Gov. Wes Moore as “a phenomenal champion for the LGBTQ+ community.” 

“He has been a partner on a lot of these pieces of legislation that I mentioned earlier,” said Vogel. “He had us over at his house recently just to express to our LGBTQ+ caucus — just to express his commitment to our community.”

Vogel differentiated Moore from other governors, including Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

“He (Moore) is someone who is such a contrast to governors like Ron DeSantis, or Greg Abbott,” said Vogel. “They wake up every morning thinking about what they can do to hurt our community, whereas the governor of Maryland right, Wes Moore, he wakes up every morning, and I’m convinced he thinks about what you can do for the well-being of every Marylander. And that includes the LGBTQ community.”

‘There is a hunger for a new generation of leadership’

Vogel, who represents District 17, is 26 and one of the House of Delegates’ youngest members.

“There is a hunger for a new generation of leadership,” Vogel told the Blade, referring to young politicians who are beginning to take center stage around the country. “And I think, without a doubt, you have a Republican Party that is intent on eroding our democracy — on attacking our fundamental rights.”

Vogel, who was born in Uruguay, noted the similarity he saw between the dictatorship that his homeland suffered in the 20th century and the current situation in the U.S.

“It’s something very interesting about the fall of your democracy — is that what you had going on, there was a far right, that was chipping away at those democratic institutions. And the left was growing hopeless, and losing faith in democratic governance,” he said. “They were saying, ‘Well, the system’s broken anyways, it’s not benefiting us, whatever. We don’t care about anything.’ And if you look at this country right now, though, that is a pattern that we are seeing here, we are seeing a far right attempting to chip away in whatever way they can at our fundamental rights and democratic institutions.” 

Uruguay’s civic-military dictatorship lasted 12 years, from 1973-1985. It carried out many human rights violations that included the use of extreme torture methods and forced disappearances. 

The term “civic-military” refers to the military regime’s relatively slow annexing of power from civilian presidents who continued to serve as head of state — contrary to other Latin American countries in which militaries immediately took control through coups.

Vogel, for his part, did not rule out the possibility of running for higher office, calling it a possibility to continue to “fight” for the issues that are happening today.

“That’s what we’ll do,” he said.